


Partners

by atomwalker



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, Smut (eventually)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 16:09:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12485552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomwalker/pseuds/atomwalker
Summary: Vi is tasked with using the menace of Piltover as a force for good. Can she keep a leash on Jinx, and herself, while keeping the city safe?





	1. Worst That Could Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi receives an unusual assignment.

"Do I _have_ to, cupcake?"

"Yes, Vi. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

Vi shrugged, her armored gauntlets shifting as she did. She could think of a _lot_ of things that could go wrong with this kind of an operation.

"But nobody's patrolled the Black District for months! That place is a dead-end!" Vi whined, nonetheless complying to her partner's demands as she flicked her magenta hair back into place and hefted her gauntlets.

"I know that, Vi. Which is why I want you to just head out there, and give it a quick look around, okay?" Caitlyn's voice was smooth and warm, as always. It just barely hid her amusement at Vi's childishness. The Sheriff of Piltover herself had no intention of leaving the police station any time soon; She'd found herself trapped in a cubicle at her own desk, completely surrounded by three-foot stacks of paperwork. Which was partially the reason why she wanted to get Vi out and onto the streets again. "Besides, it's only one patrol. You know your luck isn't _that_  bad."

"What d'you mean?" Vi asked, her steely blue eyes flashing over to the mountain of requisition forms and other assorted papers. The enforcer suspected from the get-go that her partner had something in mind when she assigned Vi to patrol duty in a back-alley, but Caitlyn wasn't talking.

"Nothing, sweetie. Just be quick about it, yeah?" It was all Caitlyn could do to suppress a snicker. "Oh, and your partner will be waiting for you when you get there."

"Partner? What the hell do you mean? I thought _you_  were my-"

A gloved hand reached over the mound of paperwork, giving Vi a dismissive wave.

"That's all, Vi. You know I'm busy."

This was gonna be a long day.

  
___________________________________________________________________________

 

The Black District.  
Officially known on maps and voting ballots as the Undertow District, it had developed a reputation for less-than-legal activities and sales. Vi's tank-like frame had a hard time slipping through the narrow, puddle-ridden alleys that led to her assignment. The enforcer's mind was fogged, causing a near-faceplant as her heel came down in a deep pothole.

"Shi-" Vi's cuss was interrupted as she caught herself, her massive steel gauntlets breaking her fall. The officer sighed, getting back on her feet with little effort. 'I need to stop worrying,' She thought, taking a quick look around. Nothing. No one. 'Cait probably just wants me to break in a new officer. Yeah. Gotta be.' Vi found her personal conclusion to be satisfactory, her mind at ease as her gaze wandered over empty market stalls and run-down buildings. Where was everyone? Vi had walked through Black District a hundred times before. There were always junkies and con artists lurking in the alleys and under the dozens of footbridges that arced overhead. But today, the entire area seemed to be abandoned. The enforcer's ears could distinctly hear the normal chatter of the rest of the city behind her, but ahead, there was nothing, except-  
Vi's thoughts were broken by the sight of someone ahead. Finally! 'Maybe I'll get some answers,' She thought, breaking into a jog. They were leaning against a sheet metal shack, their thin, almost lithe frame completely at ease, as if they knew the place. Was this the trainee Cait sent for her? Her patrol partner?

"Hey, kiddo. Sorry I'm late, just had a-"

"Oh, don't worry, fathands! Quite alright. At least you made it at all, right?"

Vi almost forgot to catch herself when she stopped. The voice, high in pitch and almost... Screechy, resonated in her ears like a church bell. This had to be a mistake. A horrible coincidence. She had to have known Vi was going to be here, somehow. The magenta-haired officer didn't know, and didn't really care. She was having a hard time forming the words for what she wanted to say, or any words at all. Vi felt her blood begin to pump faster, her hands clutching the gauntlets even tighter than usual. Finally, a single, heavy word escaped her lips:

"Jinx."

Vi's arch-nemesis sprang to life at the sound of her name, literally. The career criminal landed in a puddle with a thick splash, her blue, serpentine braids following her every motion. A knife-like smile flashed across her pale face, as she locked eyes with her rival.

"In the flesh, fathands! Now, let's get this show on the road, before-"

Jinx had just enough time to duck out of the way, as a gigantic steel fist flashed by her face like a freight train. Giggling as she did, Jinx leapt out of the way of another right straight, Vi's gigantic fists swinging ineffectually at their puny target.

"I'm gonna break you, you little shit! What d'you think you're-" Another miss, as Vi's iron knuckles buried themselves in a market stall, "-doing here?!" She wasn't thinking, she'd admit: All that Vi was focused on was trying to grab Jinx. An ankle, a wrist, a braid; Anything she could use to pound the blue-haired menace into the ground.

"Oh, c'mon, fathands! We're supposed to be patrolling, not-" Jinx's plea was cut off as she rolled out of another fist's path, the gauntlet instead burying itself in a concrete wall. This time, it appeared to be stuck. Jinx took a minute to catch her breath, chuckling at the sight of Vi ferociously wrestling with her steel fist to free it from the wall. "Need some help?" She giggled, sitting back on her rear as Vi ineffectually tried to pull herself free.

"Shut up! The second I get clear, your ass is grass, you hear me?" Vi's poisonous glare flashed over Jinx for half a moment, then back to her gauntlet. Then back to Jinx again.

"Wait, are you-"

"Wearing a Piltover Police Department uniform? Sure am, cap'n!" Jinx hooted, giving Vi a sloppy salute.

Slowly but surely, the realization creeped into Vi's mind. She refused to believe it. Caitlyn wouldn't. There's no way she /could/. Jinx was a menace to all of Piltover; A bane upon everything the city stood for: Progress, science and ingenuity. Several months ago, Jinx had shown up. At first, it didn't seem like anything major: Stolen parts and pieces from hextech factories, in the dead of night. Nothing noteworthy or even unusual. But then, it turned into so much more. Broad-daylight heists of the city's biggest, most tightly-guarded banks. The little freak would charge in, guns blazing, and level the place without taking a cent from the vault. The little menace was a criminal at heart, but in Vi's eyes, she was nothing more than a psychopath.

And yet, Jinx stood before her, an enemy of everything Piltover valued... Wearing a police department uniform.

"What." Vi's voice was shaking, her hands barely keeping a grip on her gauntlets. She didn't have any words. If she opened her mouth, she feared only gibberish, angry sounds would come out. "No. There's no fucking way."

"Aww, come on, now, fathands!" Jinx didn't seem at all intimidated by her rival, daring to go so far as to hop up onto Vi's shoulders, balancing with cat-like grace on the power pack for Vi's gauntlets, which sat firmly on her jacket's spine. "We're losing time. And I pro-o-o-mise," She said, elongating the last word as she ran a finger along Vi's jaw. The latter considered taking a chunk out of Jinx's hand.

"Hatlady will explain everything."


	2. Orders Are Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An uneasy partnership is created.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening.

"So... Are you gonna stop grinding your teeth, or what?"

This was happening.

The pair were sitting outside Caitlyn's office, which was closed at the moment. The Sheriff had promised to see them "in just a moment," but that was a half-hour ago now. Vi had one of her gauntlets clenched in a death grip around Jinx's braids, but the bouncy, psychopathic reprobate didn't seem to pay it any mind. "You've been doing that for, like, ten minutes now, fathands. Y'know, that's bad for your-"

"You know what's bad for you? Talking to me right now. Don't do it, you little shit." Vi's words were serrated with boiling, overwhelming rage, and the last thing the gauntlet-bearing enforcer needed was this little menace trying to strike up a conversation with her. It had taken every part of Vi's willpower to not crush Jinx between her steel fists coming back to the police station, and now that they had to sit next to each other for upwards of half an hour, things were not looking good for Vi at all.  
Suddenly, the door opened, interrupting whatever provocative quip Jinx was ready to deliver. Caitlyn poked her head out.

"Come on in, Vi. And..." Caitlyn seemed to sigh, her expression lowering as she saw Vi's body language. "Jinx."

Soon, the two were seated (very) far apart in the Sheriff's office, with Caitlyn gently alighting on her plush, comfortable office chair with practiced dignity. "Now," She began, snapping her fingers to get Jinx's attention (whose interest was aimed at a bird on the windowsill). "Vi, I understand that the circumstances of the assignment I gave you today were... Unique, at best-"

"Unique?" Vi interrupted, kicking her chair away as she flew to her feet. "Where the hell did you even find her? Why isn't she in cuffs, in a cell, where she belon-" Her protest was immediately silenced but a downright lethal glare from her captain. Caitlyn unseated her police cap from her head, dropping it on the table with an irritated indifference.

"Vi, I hope I need not remind you that I am your superior. You are sworn to not just uphold the laws and legislation of Piltover, but you are also, by extension, obligated to follow the orders and commands of your captain," She lectured, resting a forearm on the desk as she snapped for Jinx's attention again. "In case you've forgotten, darling, that's me."

"B-But Cait, I just don't get it! How did you-"

"It was kept under wraps, and under your nose, until we were ready to present it to you; If you'd known that the Department had Jinx in custody and was planning to implement her as an enforcer, you'd have thrown a fit and you know it."

Vi couldn't really deny that, and decided to avert her eyes. Unfortunately, her gaze ended up settling on Jinx and her frankly scandalous uniform. The blue-haired menace turned her eyes up, meeting Vi's and immediately broke out a grin that made the enforcer's skin crawl.

"Now," Caitlyn continued, "You two will be assigned as partners on a case-by-case basis; That's the deal I struck with the mayor, but functionally speaking you're essentially glued at the hip now." At this, Vi's blood froze. She whipped her head to Caitlyn, subtly shaking her head in a desperate, silent plea. But Caitlyn only met Vi's look of desperation with an endearing sigh. "Darling, it is what it is; You're the only person that can actually sprint her down if she does something... Idiotic. Unfortunately, you two also know each other better than most people know their spouses by now, if only for the number of times you've run into, or away, from each other." The Sheriff threw an expectant glance at Jinx. "Anything to say, kiddo? You've been pretty quiet so far."

Jinx looked up suddenly, as if she was concentrating on something else in the otherwise barren office.

"Huh? Oh, uh... No, uh, ma'am. Ma'am? Yeah, you're a ma'am. No, ma'am. Just, uh... Just two things."

"And what's that?" Caitlyn asked, resting her head on her palm. Vi clenched her jaw.

"When do we get our first job? I mean, uh, assignment. Mission. Whatever."

"How about tomorrow?"

"Sweet!" Jinx whooped, jumping out of her seat and giving a sloppy salute to Caitlyn. "And uh..." The blue-haired criminal-turned-cop rubbed her palms together excitedly.

"What about my guns? Pow-Pow and Fishbones? And Zap? And-"

"They're being held in the armory. You'll get them tomorrow when you go out on assignment, Jinx."

"Aww, no fair!" Jinx moaned, shoulders immediately sagging. Vi suddenly looked quite smug, taking satisfaction in the knowledge that at least Jinx wouldn't be destroying anything tonight. Probably. "Aaah, shucks. I guess a good nap will do 'em some good, though. Speakin' of sleep, I'm pretty," Jinx yawned, stretched an arm up and doing nothing to conceal her gaping mouth, "Pretty outta gas. Permission to-" Another yawn. "-Be gone? Be dismissed? Whatever."

Caitlyn only sighed. "I think we've all got an understanding now, so... Yes, granted. Good night, you two." The Sheriff waved the two away. Jinx immediately bounced from the room, but Vi stayed. The steel-fisted enforcer broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Cupcake," She started, "You know that I've never doubted you, right? Not once, not once since you gave me this gig. I've always trusted you," She said, pulling up the turned-over chair and seating herself across from Caitlyn. "But you gotta let me in on this one; I gotta know what's going on up in the noggin," Vi pleaded, tapping her own temple. "Please."

Caitlyn looked up, pulling her reading glasses from her face and setting them on the desk.

"Vi, tell me; If we had the opportunity to remove one of the greatest problems this city has ever had, would you think we should take it?"

"Well, uh... Yeah, yeah we-Wait."

"I'm serious, darling. Imagine the losses we'd prevent if Jinx and her affinity for... Destruction, were no longer a threat on the map. Think about it, I'm serious."

"I'm thinking about it," Vi replied, squinting hard.

"And?"

"I can't think of a worse idea," Vi moaned, armored shoulders sagging.

"What about that time you tried to balance Jayce's hammer on your nose?" Caitlyn asked with a smile.

"Th-That's different," The enforcer stammered, her face turning the same shade as her pink hair. "But, for real. You seriously think that Jinx is just gonna throw in the towel and help us, because you... I dunno, asked nicely?"

"No, of course not," Caitlyn replied, rubbing her eyes as she turned off her computer terminal. "Which is why you're going to make sure she does. Every time."

"Alright," Vi conceded, standing up and rolling her shoulders. "It's getting pretty late, I'm gonna jump ship and head home. You good?"

"Yes," Caitlyn replied, rising as well and pushing her chair under the desk. "Just make sure you sleep with one eye open, lest that little menace try to weave fuses into your hair or something."

Vi chuckled at the thought. "Yeah, but-Wait, why would she? She doesn't know where I live."

"Don't be ridiculous," The Sheriff replied, pulling her coat off the rack and getting ready to leave, "Where did you think she went when she left?"

Vi's heart stopped. "No. You didn't-"

"I gave her your address, darling. Where else is she supposed to stay? If you want to kick her out after she's got some money, that's your decision; But I'm not having her sleep here, in the station, where her weapons are in easy reach."

Vi groaned, dragging her feet to the front door of the police station. The building was empty, save for its two top officers. "You're gonna be the death of me, cupcake, y'know that?" The enforcer asked, opening the door for her captain, who smiled and stepped out into the cool summer night.

"Don't be so sure, darling. Jinx might end up beating me to that."


	3. Lights Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi learns to live with her new partner.

Vi wasn't sure what to expect.

As she rounded the corner, she felt a small jolt of surprise to see the apartment block was still standing.

'Well, that's gotta mean something,' The enforcer thought, 'At least she hasn't burnt it to the ground. Yet.'  
Stepping into the lobby, Vi felt her suspicion growing, rather than subsiding. The lobby was completely pristine; There were even a handful of patrons sitting by the fireplace. It didn't seem at all like Jinx had even come within a mile of the place. Vi stepped over to the check-in desk, clanking her gauntlets together to get the clerk's attention.

"Oh, hello ma'am! Back rather late, aren't we?" The clerk asked, with an amount of pep in her voice that almost made Vi cringe.

"Uh... Yeah, I guess. Look, lady, have you seen anyone roll through here? Maybe a skinny girl, long blue braids? Really screechy voice, sorta bouncy, looks like a total nut?" The description itself was fairly distinct, Vi thought, but even so; Jinx's appearance was burned into the memory of virtually every citizen in Piltover.

"Y-Yes, now that you mention it," The clerk replied, fear creeping into her voice. "She presented proper registration, ma'am, so I assumed-"  
Vi thanked the clerk and stepped into the elevator, grinding her teeth as the machine seemed to take all the time in the world to reach her floor. When the door opened, Vi broke into a sprint down the hall, barely registering the digits on the doors until her own apartment grew closer. Sliding to a halt at Room 102, Vi didn't even think to grab her keys; Immediately twisting the doorknob hard enough to snap it, the magenta-haired officer charged into the apartment...

To find it exactly as she left it.

Something was wrong here. Something had to be wrong here. Vi knew Jinx, better than anyone. There was no way that little menace would pass up an opportunity to trash Vi's apartment. But even as she thought this, she stepped into the living room to find it no different than when she'd left for the station that morning; Coffee table at a slight tilt, both throw pillows leaning against one arm of the sofa. Some of the lights were on, leaving Vi to wonder whether or not she'd turned them off that morning at all. But before she could investigate further, the voice she dreaded to hear broke the silence;

"Hey fathands, you're home! So, I noticed you had that pizza in the fridge, and I was just so-o-o-o hungry by the time I got here, so I went and chowed down on that. Hope that's alright!"

Vi could feel her eye twitching. The pistons in her powerfists strained as she tightened her metal fists to the point of breaking. The enforcer took several heavy, furious steps towards the kitchen, seeing the long shadow of two braids stretching across the tile floor. It took every muscle in her body just to stand still, but Vi's gaze angled up, following the shadow to its owner, who sat at the kitchen table, talking through a mouthful of food.

"We're cool, right, fathands? There's still some pizza left, if you-"

"How. Did. You. Get. In."

Jinx seemed to be thrown by Vi's enraged state, merely shrugging as if the answer was obvious.

"How does any criminal get into a house? I broke in, durr." With that, Jinx lifted to her mouth the slice of pizza she was working on, taking another monstrous bite out of it. At the other end of the room, Vi was still struggling with the decision to not immediately crush her new 'partner' into the floor. Tentatively stepping across the room, the pink-haired officer opted to take a look into the pizza box. She couldn't help but sigh.

"Jinx. You ate all of it, you moron."

"I what? No I-" Jinx shot up, stopping instantly when her eyes connected with the open pizza box. "Oh. Uh, oops?"

"Forget it, just... Don't burn the place down," Vi said, sighing heavily as she turned away and walked from the kitchen. "Your scrawny ass gets the couch, though; I'm not doing you any damn favors while you're here." The last thing she intended to do was become Jinx's friend. Not after everything that little brat had done to Piltover.

"You got it, boss!" Jinx called from the kitchen.

"And don't call me that!" Vi spat, growling to herself in disgust as she began the process of getting her armor off in her workshop area. By the time she was down to her stockings, shorts and tank top again, the day was already digging into her bones. The enforcer swore under her breath, rubbing her shoulders as she practically walked into the bedroom door to get it open. "By the way," She called, yawning as she did, "I leave here tomorrow at seven AM, sharp. So if you're not with me when I leave, your ass is grass, brat. Hear me?"

Jinx's voice replied from the living room, as she practically collapsed onto the sofa like a ragdoll. "Loud and clear, boss!"

"Do NOT call me that, you little fuckin-" Vi charged from the bedroom and stopped dead in her tracks. She stood there for a minute, observing Jinx as she did. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jinx had laid herself out across the sofa in an almost seductive manner, draping her bright blue braids across herself as she propped her head up on one arm, laying the other parallel to her hips, which were now accentuated by her pose.

"Waiting for you," She murmured, an almost playful smile on her face.

"What? Waiting for me to do what?" Vi wasn't sure what kind of game Jinx was playing, but it had to be some kind of elaborate ruse.

"Draw me like one of your Zaun girls, fathands," Jinx purred, her expression barely containing overwhelming laughter, which clearly wanted to surface as her facial muscles twitched to keep her expression a sultry one.

"Oh for fucksake, are you kidding me?" It was a joke. A stupid joke. Jinx was screwing with her. "Please tell me this isn't what this arrangement is gonna be like. I need to sleep, you stupid shit."

Jinx finally broke the act, clutching her stomach in screechy laughter as she finally let the joke go. Her boots kicked in the air wildly as the ear-piercing sound of her laughing pinged off the walls like a spray of bullets. Finally, the sound subsided and Vi uncupped her hands from her ears.

"You gotta admit, man, that was pretty good!" Jinx snickered, still shaking with intermittent bouts of laughter. Vi was significantly less amused, instead opting to glare down the loose cannon with an icy expression. "Oh, what a spoilsport you are," Jinx pouted, pulling her boots off and curling up on the sofa. "Whatever. See ya' tomorrow, Fathands. We'll blow shit up and it'll be great, I guess."

"You wish. Just don't forget who you're working for, you little monster. Good night, and don't think you can pull a fast one on me while I'm asleep."

"Naaah," Jinx replied, reaching into her back pocket. "By the way, you just charged right into the apartment, right? Didn't even try to go for your keys, did you?"

Vi spun around almost instantly, a glare meeting Jinx's eyes. "No, I didn't. Why?" Jinx suddenly catapulted something through the air, and Vi caught the shiny projectile in her hands. Looking at it, she suddenly felt incredibly outplayed, and even worse because it had been Jinx that had pulled a fast one on her.

"Breaking and entering is so last season," Jinx yawned, turning away from Vi and almost instantly falling into a snoring sleep.

Vi only sighed, shaking her head as she walked back into her bedroom. She pulled the blankets open, crawled into bed, and placed her apartment key on the nightstand.


	4. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinx's first day on the job doesn't lack for excitement.

"Don't."

"But-"

"Just don't."

"Or what? Gonna punch me?"

"Don't tempt me."

"Whatever," Jinx groaned, turning away from Vi and leaning on the window of the police cruiser convertible, watching the city go by. It was past noon, and Jinx felt her stomach rumbling. They hadn't come across anything warranting their assistance, and-

"Are you sure I can't change the station?"

"Dammit, Jinx, I already said 'no'!"

Avoiding another glare from her 'partner', Jinx turned away again, cracking her neck as she took in the view. While Vi would certainly argue otherwise, Jinx considered herself quite capable of appreciating sights other than explosions and muzzle flashes. They were driving through the more luxurious Piltover Heights neighborhood, which presented a majestic vista on stretches of road not already overrun with opulent real estate. From here, Jinx could see for miles, all the way down to the bay (which was, at this time, receiving a massive Demacian freighter). The sea, pristine as it was, glinted in the mid-day sun and Jinx almost felt at ease watching the city like this. Vi's voice suddenly broke her daydreaming:

"Hey, wake up, brat. You hear that?"

Jinx popped her head up, suddenly alert and ready to destroy something. Or someone. Or both, preferably. The sound of a voice that wasn't Vi's drew her down to the cruiser's radio.

"All units in Piltover Heights," A monotone voice droned, "Standby for your tone." Then, an equally flat buzz emitted, causing Jinx to squint in confused disdain.

"What's going on?" She asked, tapping the radio with a knuckle. "Sounds like it's-"

"What's going on," Vi cut in, nudging Jinx's hand away from the radio, "Is that something's going on, we're about to get details. Get ready."

At the order to prepare, Jinx broke into a massive grin, giving her partner a sloppy salute as she reached into the back of the cruiser, retrieving Fishbones, her rocket launcher. As the blue-haired menace opened the launcher's fanged, shark-like muzzle, the radio came to life again, and Vi turned up the volume:

"Report of a robbery at 157 Elderwood Drive; Unarmed suspect currently fleeing towards Gemwall District. All proximate officers ordered to pursue and apprehend with appropriate force, over."

As Vi drew a mental bead on where she was going, Jinx continued to ready herself; Loading her minigun, Pow-Pow, she found herself again looking off into the distance, if only to try and catch a glimpse of the sorry bastard she was about to blow to kingdom come-

"Hey!" Vi's voice broke her stream of thought. "Stay focused, twerp. We'll be coming up on Gemwall District in a minute or so, but don't forget; We want to bring this jerk back in one piece, so don't go ham with that rocket launcher."

At this, Jinx pouted. This job was already boring; She had to spare this moron?

"But you said that the only good part about being a cop was being able to toast guys AND get paid to-" Jinx was interrupted as Vi cut a hard turn, veering right onto another street with all the warning of a sucker punch. The pinkette started counting house numbers as she sped down the street, realizing they were drawing closer to the site of the robbery. Vi glanced over to the passenger seat to make sure Jinx hadn't done anything stupid yet; already images of Jinx leaping from the car to blast the felon in question came to mind.

"Saddle up, spaz! We're almost there!" Vi resigned herself to concentrating on her driving. After all, if she stopped paying attention, she might miss that pedestrian in the road.

"Wait a second, that-"

"-Ain't no pedestrian!" Jinx howled, giggling as she tore her taser pistol, Zap, from its holster, firing a bolt of electricity down the street. The shot missed what did appear to be the robber in question; Vi squinted as she slowed down considerably. The black-clad figure danced out of the way of Jinx's taser, sprinting for the nearest hedge. "Oh no you don't," Jinx laughed, pulling her minigun from the back seat. "Not on my first day on the job!" Vi's order for Jinx to hold her fire was drowned out by Pow-Pow's deafening storm of bullets.

Jinx kept her finger in a death grip on the trigger, as a tide of lead chased the robber, the lawn behind him being eviscerated and turned to mulch as he ran. Just a few more feet to the hedge, and he'd be out of sight, at least. Then, he'd be able to-

Suddenly, instead of shrubbery, the culprit was running straight into a steel fist, which crashed into him with all the gentle finesse of a freight train. The world spun as his vision blurred, and a screechy voice seemed to permeate everything. His bones felt like lead, his arms unable to help him as the ground came up to hit him in the face.  
___________________________________________________________________________

"But, I mean... It worked, right? We caught him!"

"Only after you nearly turned him into swiss cheese, you maniac."

"Look, fathands, nobody's-"

"Don't call me that!"

"Whatever! At least we caught him, right? Isn't that what we were supposed to do?"

"Ugh."

For once, Jinx had a point, but Vi abjectly refused to admit it. After assuring the owner of the torn-up lawn that they would be compensated, and making sure that the robbery suspect didn't have any broken bones from Vi's sucker punch, the two officers were making their way back the station. In the back lay the unconscious and handcuffed suspect.

The sun was beginning to set, casting a bright glimmer across the bay. Jinx had turned to leaning out the window again, falling unusually silent as she did. It took Vi several minutes to notice, and the senior officer silently berated herself for not catching on earlier. Vi took a quick glance at first, to make sure Jinx wasn't looking, before slowing the car somewhat to see what her partner was doing. Suddenly, Jinx spoke, her voice low and almost sullen:

"Just sightseein', fathands. I always like the view."

Vi overlooked the nickname, finding herself almost concerned about Jinx's tone. She'd never heard the loose cannon sound so sullen. Not upset, yet not so far into the realm of sadness as to be called depressed. Against her better judgement, Vi took a giant steel hand from the wheel and gave Jinx a gentle, endearing nudge on her shoulder.

"You did good. Really. Let's get this asshole back to the station and, uh... call it a night, what d'ya say?"

At this, Jinx looked across the car at her partner and handler, a hint of her usual grin returning. The criminal-turned-cop threw a punch at Vi's shoulder before giving the pinkette a thumbs-up.

"Dinner's on me, fathands!"

"Don't call me- Yeah, you got it."


	5. Nightcap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vi and Jinx realize their new partnership won't be easy.

Caitlyn stamped the report, placing the sheet atop a gargantuan pile of assorted papers to be sorted later.

"Well done, you two. I'm sure Mr. Guinsoo would agree that having to repair his lawn was worth the apprehension of that burglar," She said, rubbing her eyes as she did. It was almost time for the Sheriff of Piltover to head home, along with her officers, two of which sat before her.

"Hatlady, you shoulda-"

"Captain."

"Er, yeah. Captain Hatlady, you shoulda heard him! Spittin' and yowling, you'd think we'd just blown up his whole house or something! Not like I wouldn't have... I mean, if I had to, y'know. In the line of duty, right? Is that what that-" Jinx's tirade was interrupted by exhausted looks from both Caitlyn and Vi. "Right. Late in the day. Almost closing time. Got it."

"Thank you, Jinx," Caitlyn yawned, grabbing her bag from beneath her desk and shutting her terminal down. The three officers made their way from the Sheriff's office, saying their goodbyes to the rest of the police department as they walked through the main lobby.

"You'd think I'm a Noxian yordle, with all the looks I'm getting," Jinx growled to herself, doing her best to avoid and ignore the hostile (and sometimes fearful) glances from the rest of the force as she trotted behind Caitlyn and Vi.

"Don't worry, twerp; it was the same way with me when I was green," Vi explained, and Caitlyn nodded her head in corroboration.

"Green?" Jinx asked, grinning. "So that's what color your hair was after you le-" The loose cannon was cut short by an unusually loud cough from Vi, who, after clearing her throat, said:

"So, cupcake, I'm thinking you and me at the Bearded Lady tonight? That place's got great stuff from Bilgewater; real, uh, authentic dishes, y'know?"

"Vi," Caitlyn lowered her glasses to look her friend in the eye, "You realize the only "food" in Bilgewater consists of oranges, chopped ratshark and seawater, right?"

"I dunno, cupcake," The pinkette insisted. "I hear ol' Captain Gangplank eats pretty good out there; brined whale chops, sugar-covered hagfish, even-"

"I heard he carves people up below-decks on his ship," Jinx interjected, a ignorant smile on her face. "Carves drawings into their-" Jinx stopped, taking a cue from the expressions of her new co-workers. "Right. Brined whale chops. Sugar-covered hagfish. Yum."  
___________________________________________________________________________  
Every time Vi walked into her apartment now, she felt herself perpetually surprised that her home was still in one piece, untouched by Jinx's signature neon graffiti. Jinx had opted out of dinner at the Bearded Lady as clunkily as possible, her social skills with her new coworkers leaving much to be desired. In a move that astonished both Caitlyn and herself, Vi let Jinx head back to the apartment on her own, quite aware that Jinx had already swiped the key from her back at the police station.

"You home, twerp?" Vi called out. Only a few lights were on; the kitchen was aglow, however.

"Yeah," Jinx replied, a layer of exhaustion coating her voice. This threw Vi for a few seconds; Jinx, tired? Vi couldn't recall a particular time when Jinx wasn't anything other than overcharged with energy, destructive or otherwise. "Finished off that pizza, figured you wouldn't want any."

"Y-Yeah, no problem," Vi stammered, shaking her head as she continued struggling to unravel what she was hearing. As the deputy shrugged off her gauntlets onto her workshop table, she caught a glimpse of Jinx collapsing onto the couch, her jaw widening into a yawn. When her armor was finally removed, Vi stepped into the living room.

"This can work, y'know. It worked for me, it can work for you too. You could finally have something."

"Have what, fathands?" Jinx asked. "Money? A roof over my head? Teatime with you and Hatlady?" The criminal vitriol and trademark sarcasm had returned in the blink of an eye.

"Things I basically already have and don't _really_  need anyway? What could I possibly get out of working this shtick, huh?"

"What could you get out of it?" Vi parroted, scoffing at her new partner's attitude. "Uh, how about a life, for starters?"

"Uh, I'm already alive. Durr." Jinx rolled her eyes, stretching as she kicked her boots off. "Don't give me that goody-two-shoes crap, either. We both know that _totally_  is not my thing. Like, at all."

"Okay," Vi replied, heat beginning to bubble in her veins. "How about not living your whole life as a career criminal, and winding up dead because your shitty life choices? I got away from the life you're living by doing what I do now, twerp. By doing the /right/ thing, not what I want to do."

"Is your whole gig really any different, fathands?" Jinx asked, suddenly taking a serious tone as she squinted at her law-abiding rival. "You're still beating people up and getting paid at the end of it all; which is _exactly_  what you did back when we were-"

"Stop." Vi's blood turned to ice as her cantankerous partner recalled the one thing she shouldn't have. "You're going to work this job and you're going to stay on it. Says me, case closed. This conversation is over," Vi growled, a hateful serration edging her voice. As the pink-haired enforcer turned back towards her bedroom, her gut became a pretzel as Jinx spoke again, hitting all the chords that mattered:

"We don't have to be buddies again, Vi. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Hatlady _doesn't_  know about-"

"No, she doesn't," Vi spat, hoping her voice didn't sound as shaky as she knew it did. "And it's going to stay that way, you little freak. Now get some sleep, we're on patrol again tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, fathands."


	6. Suspect In Custody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A heist is foiled; a villain is apprehended.

"So... What're we waiting for, exactly?"

"We're waiting for the order to go in, brat. Keep your stupid head down."

"But they're probably scoopin' up all the greenbacks _right now!_ "

"Look," Vi growled, yanking Jinx back behind the cruiser for the fourth time, "We don't do anything until cupcak-Er, Caitlyn, says we do. So that's what we're doing: Waiting for our orders."

"Like being ordered around was _ever_ your style," Jinx mumbled.

"Wanna repeat that?" Vi asked. The deputy was met with silence. At least Jinx seemed to have shut up, for now. Which was just about the only thing that had gone right today.

Before the two could even reach the station that morning, they received a message from Caitlyn on the police radio. A heist at the Treasury Archive at Piltover Academy of Hextech and Sciences; it was the biggest academic establishment on the continent. It also happened to have a sizeable vault of exceedingly valuable materials, blueprints and technology; the kind of stuff that would have no trouble finding a home on the black market.

And now, somebody was raiding it.

A few attempts on the Academy Archive had been made before; usually semi-competent cat burglars trying to build a reputation or desperate idiots looking to fence a chunk of hextech for whatever loan shark they needed to pay off. But not something like this; from what Vi had heard on the police scanner, it sounded like whoever busted into the Archive was packing serious heat; automated security systems designed to turn lights on and make calls to the police obviously weren't going to cut it.

Within ten minutes of the alarms being tripped, squad cars were circled around the Archive, officers loaded for bear with live ammunition sighted into every window the building had. By the time Jinx and Vi showed up, Caitlyn was already making calls for special units to come in. That was twenty minutes ago.

"Where are they?" Vi hissed under her breath. "I don't like the look of this-" The pinkette's train of thought was cut off by someone further down the barricade shouting.

"There they are!" Somebody hollered, as the front doors to the treasury flew open and bullets began to fly in the direction of the officers. Nobody had given the order to fire, but it seemed no one needed it as the police began to shoot back.

"Now?" Jinx begged, biting her lip so hard it hurt.

"Yeah," Vi chuckled, "Let's get 'em, twerp."

The two officers vaulted over their cruiser, Jinx firing Zap wildly, the taser's bolts connecting with some unlucky heister as the hooded figure dropped to the marble steps of the Archive like a ragdoll. Before Vi could caution her otherwise, Jinx brought Fishbones over her shoulder, firing the rocket launcher aimlessly towards the open doors of the Archive.

The explosion blew several of the suspects straight into the air, limbs flailing wildly as they found no purchase before crashing to the asphalt. Debris and rubble skittered wildly across the ground and through the air, momentarily blinding Vi as she threw heisters aside like ragdolls, crushing them underfoot as she struggled to make out two bright blue braids disappearing into the mayhem.

"Hey, wait up!" Vi called, backhanding one of the suspects with her gauntlet as she did. When she realized her swing hadn't actually hit anything, Vi turned to see the heister was still standing, readying some kind of armblade as he straightened his metal mask.

"Nice mask," Vi snickered, clanking her metal fists together, "Gives me something to aim at." Before the heister could make his move, Vi leaped forward, feigning a swing with her left fist; the masked looter took the bait, raising his arm to guard appropriately, before Vi buried her other fist in the culprit's abdomen. The resulting impact made a satisfying clank as the figure dropped to the ground. Wait, clank?

"What the-" The unexpected sound threw Vi for a second, as she looked down and realized the heister wasn't wearing a metal mask at all. "You're one of those-"

Every muscle in Vi's body suddenly screamed with pain, as bolts of energy danced along her uniform and slashed at her skin with white heat. The enforcer found herself unable to move; all she could do was hold back a howl of agony as she dropped to her knees immediately. The figure standing over her stepped aside, out of Vi's peripheral vision. She realized the gunfire behind her had begun to die down, as footsteps approached.

"So, this is Piltover's Finest," A modulated voice mused, its amusement laced with condescension as a pair of boots stepped into Vi's view. "A cantankerous young woman with a penchant for solving her problems with her fists. How amusingly... Human."  
It took every shard of power left in Vi's body to crane her neck up; the early morning sun obscured her view of the figure staring down at her, a human silhouette outlined against the sky. Broad shoulders, holding some kind of staff that hummed with power.

"Look, asshole," Vi started, "We can do this the hard way, or my way. And I've got news for you; my way is a whole lot wor-"

"I don't think you'll be doing much of anything," The figure laughed, placing a boot to Vi's chest and pushing her to the pavement with ease. Vi felt weak, but worse than that, embarrassed. "But it was a pleasure meeting you, officer." The figure turned to leave, and as Vi forced her head up to glare, her eyes were greeted with an explosion.  
Reflexively forcing her eyes shut, the deputy held her gauntlets up as a shield against the heat, the smell of smoke and burning metal filling her nose. Black smoke billowed past Vi as she found her strength returning, the deputy forcing herself to her feet as she realized the figure that had been standing over her had been blasted against one of the police cruisers. As the caped heister began to rise to his feet, a taser bolt found purchase in his neck, imparting a shock that forced him to the ground again. As Vi turned to find the source of the projectile, she heard the screechy, sing-song of her partner, a voice she realized she was grateful to hear:

"Woo! Direct hit!" Jinx howled, bouncing past Vi to land a kick in the incapacitated heister's chest. "Sorry I'm late, fathands; those other robots couldn't wait their turn!" Vi's partner looked over her shoulder, at the bots that Vi had crippled. "You're fine, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Nice moves, kid," Vi replied, scratching her head. At her feet lay a broken and dead hexbot; the kind of android generally tasked with industrial work or as personal assistants. "This doesn't make any sense. Hexbots busting into the Academy Archive? I don't-" Then, Vi laid eyes on the crippled figure laying at Jinx's feet. "No way. Jinx, get Cait. Now!"

Jinx waved her arms defensively, giving her partner a sloppy salute before bouncing off through the rubble to find the Sheriff. Vi stood over the figure she could only assume was the mastermind of the heist. He was still twitching and groaning; Jinx's taser had apparently worked a little too well. A few moments later, Jinx returned with Caitlyn in tow.

"Darling, are you alright? Jinx said it was urgent-" Caitlyn laid eyes on the figure at Vi's feet. "Oh my goodness. Is that...?"

"Sure is, cupcake," Vi replied, giving him another kick for good measure. "What do you think he's doing here?"

"Who knows," Caitlyn mused, "But I'm sure Jayce will want a word with him." shouldering her sniper rifle, the Sheriff of Piltover tossed handcuffs to Vi. "You do the honors, darling. We've got a few men down, and I've got to make sure they get over to the hospital before it's too late."

"You got it, cupcake," Vi saluted, before stepping over the figure at her feet and handcuffing him. "Not sure what you're doing here," The deputy sighed, yanking the figure to his feet and dropping him into the cruiser with minimal grace, "But you're under arrest, Viktor."


End file.
